We have crazy mornings...

Today, like most days, Karl got woken up an hour early by work calls.  He eventually went out to the other room because he had to solve a bunch of communication problems, and I just lay there in bed, grumpy over the loss of sleep.  I was laying on my side so my arm was kind of draped over my belly... and that's when Evie decided she wanted to be awake too!  She was kicking me so hard my arm was moving!  I almost called Karl back to come feel her moving around, but I didn't want to interrupt him while he was being business-y.  Eventually Evie calmed down and Karl came back to bed.  I was a little disappointed because that's what always happens!  She loves to stop moving as soon as daddy's around and wants to feel her.  Anyway, he got back into bed and we cuddled up together to try to get a few more minutes of sleep before we had to head to school... but Evie had different ideas.  I felt her kick really hard and it made me giggle a little, but then I realized that Karl made a noise when she kicked too!  Evie was kicking him in the back and he was feeling it!  Suddenly she was going crazy again and keeping us both awake.  I thought it was funny :)

As grumpy as I was about not getting that hour of sleep (it's been a REALLY bad sleep week for us!), I'm really glad we got to have a bonding moment with our baby cakes!

Jiffy Pop!

Wow... Ok, I'm just lying here in bed, trying to relax, and honestly, I feel like I've swallowed a bag of JiffyPop!!  Goodness!!  Baby is getting so big and strong and ACTIVE!  I can't believe she was ever the size of a grape, and I can barely remember a time when I couldn't feel her going crazy in there.  It took so long before I could even feel her move, and now I feel like she's training to be a ninja or something.  I really love feeling her move... most of the time!  The bladder kicks and simultaneous headbutts to the ribs I could do without, lol!  At least it let's me know she's still doing ok in there, definitely puts my mind at ease to know she's still cooking! :)

Thinking About Baby

(I know everyone's seen this pic, but I don't have many of her at this point and I love it, lol)

Karl and I got to see baby moving my tummy for the very first time the other night.  It was an amazing thing to experience!  Karl's been able to feel her kick only couple of times and I'm just so happy that we're finally getting to the point where he can be more involved with baby. I think it makes it that much more real for him :)

Anyway, that just got me thinking...

I think I’m going to really miss being pregnant with this little girl.  Sure, pregnancy has its aches, pains, gross things, and discomforts (and I’m sure in a couple months I’m just going to want her out!), but I really love it.  I AM anxious to see her face and to hold her, to get to know her personality, and to love her on the “outside”, but there is still just something about this connection and relationship I have with her now.  If you think about it, it’s basically physically impossible for the two of us to get much closer!  There is just something so incredibly unique about being pregnant and basically giving up your body for your child.  I love feeling her move and watching her bumping around in my belly!  Perhaps it’s just for this one moment, but for now, nine months seems like such a short amount of time!  I love her so much already and I can’t even fathom what the future has in store for us.  I like thinking about it-I can’t wait to see what she looks like, whose eyes she’s going to have, if she’s going to be a baldy or have lots of hair, if she’s going to be superly energetic or calm and contemplative-but for right now I’m just so content to hold her as closely as I’m ever going to be able to.

On a semi related note…

Karl laughs at me when I say this, but when I think about time in terms of baby (3 and a half months ‘til she’s here :D !!!!) time seems to being flying by!  Then again when I think about time in terms of school (three and a half months ‘til it’s over D: ????) that same amount of time seems like an eternity!!  I’m very interested in how the time will pass this semester because of my unique situation.  I’m dreading the end of this semester just a little bit (labor/delivery, newborn, AND finals—what an awesome combo!), so maybe it will fly by quickly?  Or is it going to drag on and on because of pregnancy discomforts and stressful classes?

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see—wish me luck!!!

Old Wives Tales

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty scientifically minded person, and I KNOW old wives tales are mostly ridiculous and have absolutely no meaning what so ever, so this is just for fun :)

Now that we have that out of the way... During that 20 week wait to find out baby's gender (drove me crazy, no idea how some people wait 40!!) people had a lot to say about what THEY thought the baby was.  So, now that we know our little jelly bean is a girl, I thought I would see how this pregnancy measures up to all the gender old wives tales that are floating around out there!

 

• Heart Rate: The very first prediction I got was just after my first doctor's appointment.  Baby's heart rate was 160 bpm (and has been pretty much since then!) and apparently a high heart rate (over 140) means it's a girl :)

•  Nausea: This Old Wives Tale says that if you're really sick first trimester (and/or beyond), then you can expect a girl!  I would say I was pretty DARN sick at the beginning of this pregnancy so I guess that's another point for the old wives!

• Sweet Cravings:  Ok, seriously, ALL I want to eat with this little girl is SUGAR (can you say, Gestational Diabetes?)!! I constantly crave candy, pop, fruit, juice, cake, cookies, chocolate... basically, anything sweet!  We've decided that baby knows what she likes and has a fit if I don't give it to her (One day I got up and just ate some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes... and they promptly came back up again). The old wives say that sweet cravings mean a girl vs. salty and sour cravings that mean a boy :)  

• Citrus Cravings: A random one that I actually had never heard before is that craving citrus means a girl, which is really interesting because about the only thing I wanted to eat for the first few months was oranges!

• Carrying Baby: I'm pretty sure this is one of the best known gender myths: carrying low, round and in front (basketball) means a boy, carrying wide, and high (football) means a girl.  I don't totally get this one, but I would say I'm carrying pretty high, although I think that's because my torso is so short that baby has no where else to be but high!  Also, I guess she's kind of widening my middle a bit, but once again, I think that has way more to do with my body shape than anything! 

• Weight Gain: Another one I believe I've heard is that girls make you gain weight in your hips, thighs, and butt, and I will sadly admit that is the case (no stretch marks on my belly yet, but my dang hips aren't faring so well!).

• Mood: Girls are supposed to make you more moody and emotional than boys.  I know it sounds crazy, but I actually feel like I've been way more emotionally stable since I've been pregnant!  Sorry, old wives...

• Graceful or Clumsy: If you feel more graceful, that means you'll have a baby girl, feeling clumsy means a boy.  Maybe it's just that I'm ALWAYS clumsy, but I feel like I've done nothing but trip over things, run into things, and drop things lately :/

• Zits!: This one says that girlies "steal your beauty" and therefore if you're having a girl you'll have a bad complexion while you're pregnant.  The state of my face hasn't really changed since I've been pregnant, so I'm really hoping that doesn't mean I'm going to have an ugly girl, haha!

So, it looks like the old wives were eerily right on some things, lol!  What are the chances?

Halfway There!

As of yesterday, baby and I are halfway to our big day!  I'm so excited and happy right now, I feel like I'm driving everyone crazy!!  Anyway, in honor of this momentous day, I thought I would just recap what's been happening so far this pregnancy.

April 1st, I took a pregnancy test because I wasn't feeling quite right and I was a day late... and nothing... That was incredibly disappointing, but I think my body was trying to be funny and play an April fool's joke on me, because three days later, I got a positive test!!  I was so excited to see those two lines, I can't even describe it!!!

Finally POSITIVE!!

Fast forward a couple weeks... Morning sickness sets in!  I have to admit that my first trimester was the worst :(  I could smell EVERYTHING and the smell of EVERYTHING made me superly sick!  I couldn't eat anything, and at one point I couldn't even drink much with out feeling soooo sick.  On top of that I was incredibly exhausted.  I felt like I couldn't get out of bed for weeks!  When Karl and I first talked about how many kids we wanted (oh so many years ago!), we decided that five would be good, but it was about this time in my pregnancy when I really wondered if I ever wanted to do this ever again!!

Luckily, that didn't last forever, I've been feeling better and better since about 12 weeks!  Now that I can finally eat again, and have a good chunk of my energy back, and am not too huge, I'm loving being pregnant, and back to thinking five might be ok, haha.  Anyway, I managed to lose six pounds in my first trimester, and I'm just now getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight (yeeeah, I know I don't really look it... but it's true!)

Our first camping trip!!

This trimester has been really good so far (especially in comparison to the last one!!).  I have way more energy, I'm starting to like food again (and have recently developed an unseemly appetite!), and I'm starting to look a little less fat and a little more pregnant!  My only real complaints at this point are that I have heartburn every time I eat (bleh, but not a totally new thing for me), I have to pee constantly, and I get back cramps like crazy (I can't sit for more than a little bit at a time, or else...)!

And for the best pregnancy "symptom" I've had so far, I finally started feeling my baby move!!  It was really funny, last Friday I was playing around on my computer and I REALLY had to pee, but I was too lazy to get up and go, when I suddenly felt a little "blip" on my bladder that almost felt like a spasm.  I wasn't entirely sure if it was baby, but it was definitely different from anything I've ever felt before!  Then, on Monday, we found out that baby is feet down, VERY wiggly, and apparently doesn't like the invasion of space that happens when my bladder is full!!

Speaking of Monday....

Baby!!!

We got to see our baby for the first time!!  We found out that we have a very energetic, very acrobatic child (definitely takes after Daddy, Auntie Preah, and Uncle Jojo)!!  Baby was measuring great and looked healthy from everything they could see! Annnnnd.....

She's a GIRL!!!!

Yay for the bum pic!

We are so incredibly happy!  It was the most amazing experience in the world as we got to sit there, hand in hand, and see our little girl (I love calling her that!) moving around in there!  Everything just feels so much more real now.  I know we have a long way to go still, but it's going by so much more quickly than I expected!  I can't wait to meet our little one face to face!

Isn't she cute?  Chilling with her hands behind her head :)

My little alien baby!!!

Here she is curled up with her foot by her mouth, her arms by her head, and looking like an alien!

Blue or Pink???

I would just like to say that I'm glad such a monumental decision is completely and totally out of my hands!  Tomorrow, if everything goes according to plan, we will know if Baby Smith will be a boy or a girl!!  I don't know what to think!  People have been asking me for AGES what my mommy intuition has to say about baby's gender... And I've been feeling like the dumbest mom ever, because I have no idea!  The last week or so I've been thinking maybe a girl, but I guess we'll find out!

So EXCITED!

Pregnancy Brain...

What is pregnancy brain?

Pregnancy brain is the phenomena where an intelligent woman loses her capacity to think while she's pregnant because her baby is sucking out all her brain power (yes, that is the scientific definition).

Let's just say you know have pregnancy brain when you try to spell the word "laughing" with a "ph", then think to yourself, "that's ridiculous" and proceed to try to spell it with an "f"  (yeah, this totally just happened to me, I feel like an idiot.)  

Other symptoms include, but are not limited to: putting dishes and other random objects in the refrigerator, not being able to remember half the words in half the sentences you're trying to speak, and forgetting why you are where you are and what you were supposed to be doing there.  

In conclusion, I cannot be held responsible for my words or actions at this point.

"I can see yours BABY!"

So, I've been looking up all kinds of info on pregnancy on the interwebs, and when I was reading about week 14 I ran across this picture...

 ...which, made me feel terrible, because there is no way I look like that!  Baby may be that size, but I'm definitely NOT!  I've just been feeling a little bad because I was really hoping to not show so soon since this is my first baby.  A girl I know recently posted in her facebook status about being concerned that she's not showing at 20 weeks, and here I am already "popping" at 13 weeks!  Luckily with a little more research I found this picture...

...much closer to what I'm looking like, lol.  I think I'm getting used to the idea now, it's been hard not to just feel fat, but I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of loving my pregnant belly :)

And now for a cute story:

I walked into my parent's house the other day, and my three year old sister ran up to me, patted my belly and shouted, "I can see yours small baby!!!" It was super cute.  She's been confused because people kept telling her there's a baby in my tummy, but I still looked the same so she was really excited that she could finally "see" the baby. Lol!

(Bad pic, I'll have to get Karl to help me take a better one!)

6/20 Update: Had a check-up today and my midwife said I'm measuring a couple weeks, big, so I'm NOT just fat!  Lol

The great outdoors!

I went for a walk today!

I am so very proud of myself. I've actually been meaning to for days (such good weather!) but I have been feeling sick and utterly exhausted... and just plain awful so I've convinced myself not to :(  Anyway, I was about to consign myself to another day of being miserable on the couch, but, through some miracle, I put on my tennis shoes and walked out the door.  It was really nice!  I love feeling the sunshine (and the shade, lol), and smelling all the pretty spring smells.  Fresh air is sooooo wonderful!!  I just feel better when I'm being physically active, as hard as it is to convince myself to get moving in the first place, I always feel better once I get going!  I think that's definitely my biggest obstacle when it comes to being active, I love moving and exercising (usually), but it just takes so much effort to get started, I usually just give up!

Anyhow, here are some pictures I took with my crummy cell phone camera.

I just love spring time!! Wish my pics could do such a beautiful day justice!

Migraine, pt. II

So, today I had my second migraine in as many days. Thank you, hormones. What did I learn?  Tylenol is about as effective during a migraine as a rowboat in the desert...  Also, for what little energy I expend while I'm having a migraine, it's exhausting!!!!  I think I've spent more time asleep in the last two days than I've spent awake!